Chemotherapy in gastric cancer: a review and updated meta-analysis.

Unlabelled: The five years survival rate for patients with gastric cancer is 15-25%. With the aim of improving survival, chemotherapy has been used in different adjuvant settings. Similarly, but with the aim of improving quality of life and prolonging life, chemotherapy has been used extensively in metastatic disease.

Endoscopic assessment of the "Z-line" (squamocolumnar junction) appearance: reproducibility of the ZAP classification among endoscopists.

Background: The histologic presence of intestinal metaplasia in the esophagus is a prerequisite for the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus. Thus, use of the term Barrett's esophagus to describe certain endoscopic features in the distal esophagus is inappropriate. There is no accepted classification system for the endoscopic description of the squamocolumnar mucosal junction, the so-called "Z-line.

A postfundoplication study on Z-line appearance and intestinal metaplasia in the gastroesophageal junction.

The purpose of this study was investigate the Z-line appearance by using a previously proposed classification, the ZAP classification, and to investigate the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia in the Z-line, among fundoplicated patients. Sixty patients, who had undergone fundoplication 2 to 17 years earlier, were included in the study. The prevalence of intestinal metaplasia was 20%.

Immunohistochemical markers for Barrett's esophagus and associations to esophageal Z-line appearance.

Background: Data from previous studies on intestinal metaplasia at the gastroesophageal junction have been conflicting, which makes the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus less obvious. This may partly be due to the lack of a reliable classification of the Z-line appearance. We previously proposed such a classification (the ZAP classification) that was shown to correlate with the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia.

The Z-line appearance and prevalence of intestinal metaplasia among patients without symptoms or endoscopical signs indicating gastroesophageal reflux.

Background: A four-graded classification of the Z-line appearance (ZAP) has been proposed, which was shown to correlate with the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia (IM) among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The aim of this study was to determine the ZAP grade and the prevalence of IM among patients without GERD.

Methods: In this study, 53 consecutive patients without signs or symptoms of GERD were included.